


Switching it up

by Saysi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 01:19:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13089435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saysi/pseuds/Saysi
Summary: A quick KageHina for Kageyama's birthday.Disclaimer: I'm not caught up on the manga.





	Switching it up

The trip home was wracked with difficulties.  
First of all the bus had been late picking them up – even after they spent way too much time celebrating and changing and gathering their things. They'd sat around in the cold to wait, only the high of victory getting them through, until finally the driver had arrived without so much as an apology. It was unusually cold, too. Kageyama had actually been a little surprised when he'd started to shiver despite his coat and scarf.  
When they finally got on the bus, they hit traffic. Some kind of accident ahead had caused massive delays, and even the most excited and energetic members of the team had gotten a little down as they sat in a line of cars that trickled forward.  
And finally, to top it all off, when they got back to the school they'd lost the keys. After a lot of fruitless searching through pockets and bags, the coaches had finally just dismissed them to go home without the usual meeting.  
Going from such a high, celebrating their win and stuffing their faces, to such a damn low had been a hell of a ride. Kageyama was ready to just go home and collapse in bed, although he half expected that Hinata would demand he threw a few tosses outside the gym first, and was already preparing to restrain himself from punching the boy in the face. When he glanced over, though, he was a little stunned. Hinata was huddled inside his jacket, his eyelids drooping, his usual cheesy grin given way into a tired expression he could almost call a frown. His eyes were locked to the ground, to his own feet, and he simply shrugged his bag over his shoulder without a word.  
“Hey,” Kageyama found himself hurrying to Hinata's side, “wait up.”  
“Sorry.”  
Kageyama started to catch on when Hinata headed toward the bike racks, pulling a face as he contemplated. It was cold, it was dark, and Hinata lived a long ride away after three days of exhausting matches.  
“Come stay at my place,” he blurted out, before he could stop to think. “It's closer.”  
“What?”  
“You heard me,” Kageyama frowned, “come on, you can get your bike tomorrow.”  
Hinata hesitated, staring at the only bike left in the rack, and Kageyama rolled his eyes.  
“What about your parents?” Hinata asked finally.  
“They won't care.”  
“Alright. Thanks.”  
They made the walk in silence, which Kageyama thought would be enjoyable, but somehow it was a little off-putting to be around Hinata when he was so quiet. His parents weren't home yet when they arrived, so Kageyama threw a towel at Hinata's face and pointed him toward the bathroom.  
“Go warm up.”  
“Thanks.”  
“Leave your stuff outside the door,” Kageyama added. “I'll put it in the laundry.”  
“You don't have to.”  
“It's fine, I need to wash mine anyway. You'll need it for the morning.”  
He returned to his bedroom while Hinata headed for the shower, changing into clean clothes and digging out an armload of his dirty gear from his bags. When he heard water running in the shower, he headed through to grab the laundry and throw it in the machine. Through the door to the bath he heard Hinata start to hum quietly, and after a moment he cracked a little smile.  
_Back to normal, then, huh?_  
He grabbed a drink from the fridge and collapsed on the couch, thinking back to their matches over the past three days, the extensive list of mistakes they made and how they desperately needed to fix them. Most of the team were ready for a break, were claiming there was no reason to practice until the next season got closer – they'd be losing some of their best players, after all. They may as well wait for the new people to arrive.  
To Kageyama, that was even more reason to practice. To be the best they could possibly be by the time their teammates left. To carry all the new players until they settled in.  
Not to mention he was still hopeful about the last tournament of the season. He would probably be picked for a team, he knew that, but a tiny part of him wanted to push his teammates, too. Wanted to see how many of them could be chosen. Wanted to see if Hinata would be chosen.  
“Hey, um, Kageyama?”  
He jumped as he looked up, surprised to find Hinata had padded his way out to the living room without him noticing. Damp red hair and an equally red face poked around the corner from the hall, and Kageyama felt like an idiot when he immediately caught on.  
“My room is over there,” he pointed toward the appropriate door, averting his eyes from Hinata's towel. “I think there's still some stuff from Junior High in my closet.”  
Hinata was almost offended for a moment, ready to bite back, until he saw the strange straight-forwardness in Kageyama's expression. For once it wasn't a dig at his size, it was a legitimate suggestion, almost apologetic about them not being the same size.  
Besides, he was pretty sure the old stuff would still be too big for him.  
With a little nod he headed for the bedroom, still clutching his towel around his waist tightly. It wasn't like they'd never been in a changing room together, but for some reason being essentially naked in Kageyama's house felt weird and awkward. Sure enough he managed to find some older, slightly smaller clothing among Kageyama's possessions, and after rolling a few hems over it wasn't too terrible to wear.  
“You should call your parents,” Kageyama reminded him, when he returned. “If you want food or drink or anything just grab it yourself.”  
“Oh. Yeah. Thanks.”  
He retrieved his phone from the bag by the door, and made his way through to the kitchen as it rang, scraping a glass out of the cupboard with his fingertips and holding it under the tap.  
“Hi, Mom,” he began, glancing at the time and cringing. “Sorry to call so late.”  
“It's fine, Shouyou. Where are you? On your way?”  
“Actually I'm gonna stay with a teammate tonight, we got back really late. Sorry. I'll be home tomorrow night.”  
“Okay, I'm glad you're safe. Have a good night.”  
“Thanks Mom, you too.”  
When he returned, Kageyama was pulling a futon from the hall closet, dragging it toward his room, and Hinata quickly stepped in to help. Between them, and still without really speaking, they got the bed set up on the floor and Hinata collapsed on it with a grateful sigh.  
“You must be exhausted,” Kageyama mumbled.  
“Huh? Why do you say that?”  
“You've barely talked tonight.”  
“Must be a nice change,” Hinata smiled wryly. “Best night of your life.”  
“Not far off,” Kageyama chuckled. “You're okay though, right?”  
Hinata froze, staring up at the dark eyes that didn't hold even a hint of teasing.  
“Yeah,” he answered finally. “I'm fine, just tired like you said.”  
“Get some sleep, then. Do you need anything else?”  
“You must be tired too.”  
“What?”  
“You're being way too nice.”  
A smirk crept its way across Kageyama's lips, and Hinata grinned in response as he tucked himself into the blankets, watching Kageyama turn out the lights.  
“Thank you, by the way.”  
“It's fine,” Kageyama shrugged, even though Hinata wouldn't see it.  
“Sweet dreams. I'll see you in the morning.”  
“Yeah, goodnight.”  
Hinata lay back against the pillow with a grin still on his face, staring up at the dark ceiling for a minute before he rolled over and buried his face in the pillow, surprised to find that it smelled familiar. Different to his own, of course, but still somewhat comforting when he closed his eyes and took in a long, deep breath.  
Kageyama listened as Hinata rolled around to get comfortable, keeping his eyes firmly closed but listening all the same. Thankfully he seemed to get comfortable pretty quickly, and stopped moving so much, letting out a long but muffled sigh as he settled in. Kageyama cracked one eye open in the dark to see Hinata on his stomach, the pillow clutched in his arms, face down in a way that almost, _almost_ made Kageyama worry he would suffocate. He seemed comfortable enough though, and if nothing else the lack of oxygen might keep him quiet through the night. He dreaded the morning, when Hinata would probably wake up yelling at the top of his lungs, would drag Kageyama from his peaceful sleep way too early.  
If he was honest, though, he didn't dread it that much.

Kageyama woke to silence. On any other day that would be normal, but that day it was weird, and a little concerning.  
_Did he really suffocate himself in the pillow?_  
When he rolled over to look, Hinata was nowhere to be seen. His blankets and futon were folded neatly, ready to go back in the cupboard, but the boy himself had vanished. With a groan Kageyama hauled himself out of bed, glancing at the time. On his desk sat two neat piles of folded clothes, on one side his school uniform, on the other his gear for training. At some point in the morning his mother must have sneaked in with them, after finding them in the laundry room, and left them for him to find. Yawning, he got himself dressed and headed for the bathroom to brush his teeth, hearing quiet voices down the hall that he went to investigate as soon as he was done.  
When Kageyama poked his head through the door Hinata's face lit up, from where he sat at the table with – oh lord, with his mother. He couldn't even begin to imagine the things the two of them must have been talking about. Hinata leapt up and darted out to the kitchen, returning with a plate and a glass that he set on the table, motioning for Kageyama to join them. Still he couldn't seem to wrap his head around the quiet redhead, so used to him being bouncy and boisterous and all over the place. But he took his seat obediently, started to eat his breakfast, and couldn't help but notice the fond looks Hinata was getting from his mother.  
“What have you been telling him?” he asked between mouthfuls.  
When she looked up he immediately realised it came out wrong, that it sounded far too harsh, and he scrambled for words to amend it.  
“We shared all sorts of embarrassing stories,” Hinata grinned, “it's been the best morning ever.”  
“Not surprising,” Kageyama sighed, but managed a tiny smile. “I didn't even know she had any.”  
“Other way around,” he laughed, “I was telling her stories.”  
“Oh god no.”  
“Like last week when you did that jump serve and your pants fell down.”  
“They didn't fall _down_ ” Kageyama insisted, “I mean, they slipped a bit, but they didn't come off or anything.”  
“Or those girls who were hitting on you all weekend and you were all embarrassed.”  
“What?”  
“Huh?”  
“What girls?”  
“You mean you didn't notice?” Hinata asked in disbelief, “they were all over you for three days.”  
“I don't know what you're talking about.”  
“Seriously? One was super tall, and one was blonde.”  
“I don't remember any super tall girl.”  
“She must have been like... one seventy five?”  
Kageyama stared at him for a moment, then a genuine laugh escaped him.  
“That's what you call super tall?”  
“For a girl!” Hinata insisted, his face burning red. “You know what I mean.”  
“Were they cute?” his mother asked, and it was Kageyama's turn to blush. “If they were at a tournament they must at least be volleyball fans, isn't that a start?”  
“Not interested,” Kageyama insisted, stuffing food in his mouth quickly.  
“I think they were just there for the guys,” Hinata informed her sadly, “they didn't actually seem to know what was going on.”  
“That's a shame.”  
“I'll say. Even the girls I've met who _play_ volleyball don't seem really into it. Oh! Kageyama, did you meet any at the training camp?”  
“No.”  
“None at all?”  
“No. All dudes.”  
“Boring. Hey, what time do we need to leave?”  
Kageyama glanced at the clock again, draining the last of his milk.  
“Soon,” he said vaguely. “Just give me a minute.”  
As he took his plate out he could hear Hinata repeatedly thanking and apologising to his mother, and when he returned he grabbed Hinata by the back of his shirt, dragging him away mid-apology.  
“Going, Mom,” he announced, grabbing his bag and shoving his uniform in it for later. “See you tonight.”  
“Have a good day at school, boys.”  
“Thank you!” Hinata beamed, “and thank you again for having me!”  
“Come back any time.”

Kageyama shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked, and within moments Hinata was back to normal, back to talking non-stop and bouncing around, full of energy. Most days it would annoy him, he would be marching on ahead to shut him up, but today... Today it wasn't so bad.  
“Hey,” Hinata began, skipping ahead a little to turn and look at Kageyama. “If I ask to play some two on two, will you be my partner?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Really?!” Hinata's face lit up, and Kageyama realised far too late that he answered too quickly for his own good. “That would be awesome!”  
“Why do you want to play two on two suddenly?”  
He had hoped the question would divert some energy a little, but intead it seemed to make him explode, and Kageyama cringed when Hinata grabbed onto his arm.  
“When I was at that camp, they played a bunch, and it was sooo cool. I saw all these things people were doing, and wanted so bad to be in there instead to do them differently.”  
Kageyama froze, and Hinata stopped to match, confused by the look on Kageyama's face.  
“You were watching people at a camp, people chosen because they were better than you, and thinking they were doing it all wrong?”  
“It sounds mean when you say it like that!”  
“Are you sure they weren't doing everything properly? Maybe you're just not used to that.”  
“Don't be mean!”  
Kageyama smiled faintly, patting Hinata on the head with a surprising amount of fondness before immediately ruining it, shoving the boy off him roughly.  
“I said I'd play, right?”  
“Right!”  
“We never talked much, did we? About the camps.”  
“Not really. I mean, I talked. I asked you, but you just said nothing special happened.”  
“Yeah,” Kageyama said faintly, looking away. “It was... Fun, I guess. I did well.”  
“As expected.”  
“But it was nothing special. People were just good, that's all.”  
“Well mine was definitely special! I was watching all these people and learning how they moved and...”  
Kageyama tuned out a little. He'd heard the speech before, rambled at other teammates. Instead he found himself watching Hinata's hands as he gestured, waving them wildly and threatening to hit Kageyama in the face. He watched the facial expressions that came with his words, the imitiations of other people, strangely recognisable.  
“and Tsukishima was actually _nice_ to me...”  
“Wait, what?” Kageyama cut in with a laugh, “no way, you misunderstood him.”  
“No, really! He asked me to come practice with them, even though I wasn't really supposed to be joining in. He said it was free practice, so it didn't matter, or something.”  
“Sounds like he needed you to get him some practice partners.”  
“Oh.” Hinata froze again, his face falling. “Yeah, that would make sense.”  
This time Kageyama stopped at the fond pat, smiling at the strangely let down face as he tugged lightly at orange hair.  
“If we're gonna work together, you have to win.”  
“What?”  
“No experimenting today. We haven't been ourselves lately.”  
“You just want to play for the trophy?”  
“It's training, dumbass, there's no trophy.”  
“You know what I mean.”  
“Yeah,” Kageyama nodded. “We need a victory. Need to remind them who's boss.”  
Hinata paused for a moment, then grinned widely.  
“You think I'm the boss?”  
“God no,” Kageyama scoffed. “You know what I meant.”  
His hand still lingered on Hinata's head, and somehow it felt comforting to have him there.  
“Understood, King.” Hinata smirked, “I'll win it for you.”  
“Quit it, dumbass.”  
Truth be told he was starting to get used to it, to hearing them call him by the dumb nickname in a teasing way. It wasn't so bad, without the malice behind it.  
“What are you, then?” Kageyama mumbled. “My Duke?”  
Hinata's eyes lit up, a grin stretching across his face, but Kageyama cut him off before he could speak.  
“The Dumbass Duke, it has a ring to it.”  
“Oi!”  
“You wanted a nickname, didn't you? Little Giant is taken, you can't keep trying to claim it.”  
“Not a nickname with dumbass in it!”  
“You can just call yourself The Duke. Only I have to know the truth.”  
“It was a cool title until you ruined it.”  
“Don't worry, when you do eventually get a nickname I'll be sure to ruin that as well.”  
“You're the worst!”  
As they got closer to the gates Kageyama finally realised his hand was still on the boy's head and slowly slipped it off, back to his side. As it moved, Hinata realised he was still clutching Kageyama's arm, and he too backed off in a hurry.  
“Come on, let's warm up before the others start arriving,” Kageyama suggested, leading the way toward the club room. “Here's your chance to mess around.”  
“Oh! Didn't they lose the keys last night?”  
“It's fine, I know where they are.”  
“Why didn't you say so? They've probably been worrying.”  
“I only remembered this morning.”  
Hinata watched as Kageyama dug through the rocks near the entrance, stunned when he pulled out a slightly dirty key.  
“Noya was convinced he would lose it while we were gone,” Kageyama explained, “and Tanaka suggested they bury it where they could find it later.”  
“And then forgot about it?”  
“Apparently.”  
“That sounds like something I would do.”  
“You said it, not me.”  
He unlocked the door and ditched the key to the side, brushing his hands off on his sweatpants. Hinata just watched silently as he walked over to the cupboard and pulled out the balls, spinning one in his hands as he eyed the nets still set up waiting for them. Kageyama gave him a pointed look when he didn't move, and quickly he found the presence of mind to smile, moving to the other side of the net.  
“What's gotten into you this morning?” Kageyama asked bluntly. “Wrong side of the net, dumbass.”  
“You said I could experiment.”  
“Yeah?”  
“So I'm gonna be doing plenty of spiking in the games, I may as well experiment with some other stuff first.”  
“What did you have in mind?”  
“Jump serves.”  
“Of course,” Kageyama snorted. “Go on, then.”  
He threw the ball over the net and watched as Hinata got into position, eyeing him with a hint of curiosity as the tip of his tongue poked out the corner of his mouth, concentrating fiercely.  
And Kageyama had to admit, for his first attempt, it actually wasn't terrible.  
“Alright,” Kageyama sighed. “Here, this is what you need to do.”  
He was surprisingly soft, actually somewhat helpful for once, as he explained and demonstrated. Hinata didn't dare to question it, just nodded along and did his best to take in every word, to transfer them all to his limbs and body to tell them what to do.  
And his second attempt – God, Kageyama hated himself for even thinking it – was actually... pretty good.  
Hinata's face fell when the ball dropped just beyond the line, and Kageyama found himself harbouring a weird desire to cheer him up.  
“We can work with this,” Kageyama declared, “try again.”  
He picked up another ball obediently and set himself up, taking a deep breath while Kageyama mimed reminders to him. His throw was good, and his jump was even better, but once again his aim fell short.  
“It's okay,” Kageyama assured him. “You'll get there.”  
People were starting to arrive for training, so they moved on quickly from the task, sweeping the serves under the rug like they never happened. When the third-years arrived Hinata was buzzing with excitement, but the moment he opened his mouth Daichi shut him down.  
“No more talking, get warming up.”  
“I was just gonna ask-”  
“Whatever the question is, the answer is no.”  
His shoulders slumped, his gaze fell to the floor, and somehow Kageyama felt an ache in his chest.  
“Can I make a request?” he asked quietly, when the others took off to start warming up.  
“Really? Yeah, okay.”  
“I wondered if we could play some two on two. We've done threes a decent amount, it would be interesting to try it in pairs.”  
Daichi pulled a face as he contemplated it, and after a minute he nodded.  
“Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Let's keep it for weekend training though, so we have longer. Yeah?”  
“Sure. Thank you.”  
“Any time.”  
He dropped a fist on Hinata's head a little too heavily, making the boy jump, but managed to produce a tiny smile when Hinata looked up at him.  
“Saturday,” he said flatly. “We're doing it.”  
“Seriously?!”  
“Yeah, just don't tell them it wasn't my idea.”  
“You're the best!”  
“You owe me.”  
“Uh-huh!”  
“You're gonna be working your butt off until then.”  
“Okay!”  
Kageyama shook his head fondly and took his hand back with a last tiny little pat, heading to the other side of the room to grab a ball.

They were sitting in the grass eating lunch when the idea struck Kageyama, and he turned with wide eyes to look at Hinata. It took a moment for him to notice, but when he did, his forehead creased a little.  
“Why are you staring at me?”  
“I had a thought.”  
“Don't you have like a thousand of those a second?”  
“Well, yeah, but- Ugh. Let's call it a special thought.”  
“Okay, tell me about your special thought.”  
Hinata was surprisingly mellow, ready to listen attentively and calmly, until Kageyama got through his first sentence.  
“You want to surprise everyone, right?”  
“Yes! What are you planning? What are we doing? Is this about Saturday?”  
“Just listen. They're gonna be expecting all the usual, right? You spiking my tosses. Maybe you'll get a few good blocks in there, I'll throw a couple of dumps, but that's about it. Right?”  
“Sure, that's what works for us.”  
“So I have like three days to teach you how to set.”  
Hinata froze with his mouth open, torn between fear and excitement, and Kageyama smirked.  
“Picture it.”  
“I can't.”  
“You nail an awesome jump serve and throw them off guard. You get us a point with that, because they don't see it coming. No touch, just straight in.”  
Hinata's eyes fell closed and he leaned back against his hands in the grass, smiling.  
“That would be pretty great.”  
“So they learn. They learn to react to your serves, they start receiving them nicely. We get through a few rounds with our normal points, but things start to fall flat. They start predicting our moves.”  
“We just have to be faster.”  
“But when that capacity runs out, we switch.”  
“We switch,” Hinata repeated in a mumble, his eyebrows knitting together.  
“Just when they're marking you, ready for your spike, maybe even when they're already jumping to block you, you toss it my way and I slam it in.”  
“And you get all the glory.”  
“Do you really think they'll be more focused on my spike than your toss?”  
“Maybe not.”  
“If you work really hard I could even teach you to dump.”  
Hinata smiled at the thought, and Kageyama knew he was sold.  
“We always talk about switching it up. What better switch up could there be?”  
“We'd have to save it though. As long as possible. Otherwise they'll see it coming.”  
“Don't worry, we'll keep it for finals,” Kageyama grinned. “I have faith we can get that far without becoming too predictable.”  
“We might need new signals.”  
“I'll work on it.”  
“Okay, let's do it,” Hinata agreed finally. “But you have to be patient. You can't yell at me.”  
“I promise.”  
“Seriously?”  
“I promise I'll try,” Kageyama amended. “It'll be worth it.”  
“I'll take it.”

They'd been at it for hours, by the time Hinata let out a groan and sat down, his head in his hands.  
“I don't know how you do this. My brain hurts.”  
“You only have to pass it to me.”  
“But I don't know where you're gonna be!”  
“That's why we'll have signals.”  
“Oh.”  
He sighed, but finally looked up at Kageyama's dark eyes, watching him curiously.  
“I've never seen you give up before,” he explained. “It's interesting.”  
“I'm not giving up!”  
“Are you gonna set from down there?”  
“Maybe,” Hinata mumbled stubbornly, but climbed to his feet anyway. “Okay, tell me where you're gonna be, okay?”  
“I'll be right here. We'll just pass it back and forth for a bit.”  
Kageyama tried to keep a conversation going as they passed, to distract Hinata from the insane concentration he was trying to put into it unnecessarily, but he wasn't much for coming up with things to talk about.  
“So my Mom seemed to like you,” he said finally, immediately feeling like an idiot for it. “What did you talk about?”  
“Volleyball and stuff. She was surprised you had a friend close enough to bring home. I explained how it was snowy and dark and you took pity on me.”  
“You make me sound too nice. It's not like I would have taken pity on anyone else.”  
“Really?”  
“Well yeah, I need you awake to train with.”  
“You could train with your National Camp buddies.”  
“They're not here.”  
Hinata didn't answer, and after a moment Kageyama sighed.  
“They aren't really my buddies.”  
“No?”  
“They were fine. They're talented. But we only spent a few days together, we weren't friends. Why are you suddenly getting so jealous? It was forever ago.”  
“I was jealous from the start,” Hinata grumbled, “you just didn't notice.”  
“Why do you think I didn't talk about it?”  
Hinata froze, catching the ball and stopping, and Kageyama frowned at him.  
“What?”  
“You didn't talk about it because of me?”  
“Kind of.”  
“Really?”  
“You're the only one I would have talked to,” he shrugged, “and I figured you didn't want to hear it. So I didn't talk about it.”  
“I do. I mean, I want to hear about the people, and what you did, and... I don't know! I'm jealous, but that doesn't stop me being curious!”  
“Okay,” Kageyama agreed, “you think about tossing and I'll talk about camp.”  
There were a lot of events Kageyama didn't remember anymore, or only vaguely recalled, but he didn't admit that. He talked about the people he met, how tall and strong and fast each of them was. He talked about the drills they ran, and the screen where he could look up and see replays of their good shots. Hinata liked that part, he wanted to watch back all their best plays, all his best spikes, as they happened. He would play there one day, he knew it deep down, but he didn't dare voice it for fear of mocking.  
Kageyama started to pass a little faster, and Hinata didn't even seem to notice. Soon he was throwing the occasional half-decent toss, and each time it happened Kageyama caught the ball and stopped, giving him a little smile as some vague attempt at positive reinforcement.  
“I'd better go,” Hinata sighed, when Kageyama ran out of things to say. “I'll see you in the morning. Come early, we can practice more.”  
“How early?”  
“Like, an hour?”  
“Okay, sure.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, if you want. You're the one with the long trip.”  
“I don't mind! Cool! Thanks, Kageyama! I'll see you tomorrow!”  
His energy seemed to return in a hurry as he grabbed his jacket and headed for his bike, and Kageyama couldn't help but smile at his back.  
_Weird guy._

They were practically buzzing when training ended, ready to get up and throw some more weirdly backwards shots, but froze when Daichi glanced their way.  
“Some of you have barely rested since the tournament. Go home and sleep, no staying late. Especially those of you with a mountain on your route home!”  
“I'm fine!” Hinata insisted, “it's no big deal!”  
“I mean it. You're gonna get hurt going home so late in this weather, have you looked outside?”  
It was pouring with rain and he knew it, but still he searched for stubborn excuses, coming up blank.  
“Uh, actually, he's staying at my place tonight,” Kageyama explained from across the room, multiple stunned faces turning his way. “That's kind of the deal, when the weather is bad.”  
“Seriously?” Daichi frowned, “since when?”  
“I don't know. He was there on Monday night, right?”  
“Yes!” Hinata agreed quickly, buzzing again. “It's super close, so I even get to sleep in later in the morning!”  
“Fine,” Daichi conceded with a sigh. “But when you're going home, you do it at a decent time, alright? We worry about you, kid.”  
“Yes, Sir!”  
He was grinning still when people started to drift away and head home, covering themselves with rain jackets and umbrellas, and Kageyama couldn't resist a tiny smile.  
“You'd better tell your parents you're staying at mine,” he chuckled. “Before they start to worry.”  
“Is it really okay?”  
“Yeah. You heard my Mom, you're welcome any time.”  
“I should start bringing spare clothes with me.”  
“You can borrow mine, it's not a big deal.”  
“Thank you.”  
“But for now we need to get some practice in, so that it's actually worth putting up with you.”  
Hinata didn't bother to argue with him, just grinned and reached for a ball.  
“My serve!” he announced, running to the endline. “I'm gonna get it this time.”  
“Yeah right.”  
“What do I get if I do?”  
“Nothing.”  
“So you _do_ believe in me.”  
“Hardly. One could be a fluke. Three in a row, then we'll talk.”  
“Fine! What do I get for three in a row?”  
“Whatever you want,” Kageyama smirked. “It's not gonna happen.”  
Hinata screwed up his face, contemplating the ball in his hands, then looked again at Kageyama sitting on the sideline.  
“Anything?”  
“Anything.”  
“Fine.”  
When his tongue poked out the corner of his mouth, Kageyama was briefly horrified to find his first thought was “cute”. He brushed it off quickly though, shook his head to clear it, and watched as Hinata threw and ran and jumped and hit. He almost cheered when it landed just barely in the back zone, but caught himself quickly and shrugged.  
“Fluke,” he smirked, when Hinata gave him a triumphant look. “You still have two more to go.”  
“Fine!”  
He was never one to back down from a challenge, Kageyama knew that. When the second serve hit almost the exact same place, though, he started to catch on. Hinata was playing him. Somehow, at some point, Hinata had actually figured out this serve. And he had played Kageyama like a fiddle.  
“Hit a different spot next time,” Kageyama demanded. “Aim somewhere else.”  
“That wasn't part of the deal!”  
“Just do it!”  
“Fine!”  
With the same screwed up look of concentration, the same narrowed eyes and poked out tongue, Hinata smacked the ball, landing it dead centre in the back zone.  
“You cheated!” Kageyama insisted, folding his arms. “When did you learn that?!”  
“I've been practicing! Also, um, I think the setting has actually helped my aim.”  
“You played me!”  
“You're the one who said three in a row!”  
Kageyama scowled, not at all willing to admit how weirdly proud he was, and finally let out a long sigh.  
“Fine,” he conceded. “I said anything. What do you want?”  
“We've been working together for almost a year now. Every day, multiple hours a day. Are we friends yet?”  
“Is that what you want? You want me to admit that we're friends?”  
“No, that was a genuine question.”  
His face was strangely soft, and Kageyama found himself nodding.  
“Yeah, we're friends. So?”  
“So I want us to use first names.”  
“What?”  
“I want you to call me Shouyou. And I want to call you Tobio. When we're here like this, I mean. Not in front of everyone at training, I know you'd hate it if it caught on, but when it's just us.”  
“That's what you're choosing? With your 'anything you want' card?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Okay,” he agreed easily. “I'm fine with that.”  
“Really?”  
“Really. It might take a little getting used to, though. I might forget.”  
“That's okay!”  
“Come on then. Let's do some setting, Shouyou.”  
He seemed weirdly happy to hear it, and Kageyama couldn't help but smile faintly as he picked up a ball and spun it in his hands.  
“I'm gonna throw it to you, you're gonna set it to me, and I'm gonna spike it. Yeah?”  
“Okay!”  
Other than the occasional break to pick up balls, they worked with a surprising amount of quiet. Kageyama wasn't a big talker in the first place, and Hinata was frankly too busy concentrating to talk, so the only words they exchanged were requests or tips. He was starting to get the hang of it, though, and Kageyama was actually having a pretty good time just wailing on some balls instead of thinking about all the information it took to set properly.  
“We should probably go,” he said reluctantly, when they'd finished gathering the balls again. “While the rain has eased off a little.”  
“Yeah, okay,” Hinata sighed. “You sure your parents are okay with it?”  
“Yeah, I told them,” he waved his phone lightly. “Did you tell yours?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Come on, then.”  
The routine was familiar by now. Putting away all the equipment neatly, turning off the lights, locking the doors. Bundling up in their coats and scarves at the door, shivering their way out to the street. The rain was a lot lighter than earlier, so they took their time, occasionally sharing a few words but otherwise just walking.  
“Hey, Tobio...” Hinata started, pausing when his face burned red. “Are you gonna be mad at me if it doesn't work out on Saturday? If I miss a serve or a toss?”  
“No.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. No one will know we practiced, they'll just think it was a weird slip up.”  
“But you'll know.”  
“It's fine. Just... do your best, or whatever.” He paused, eyeing Hinata's little smile, and rolled his eyes. “Just don't miss, it won't be a problem.”  
“I'll try.”  
The rain picked up again and the pair made a run for it, Hinata laughing his head off as they quickly got soaked through, Kageyama muttering to himself in frustration. They stripped off most of their sodden clothes in the entryway to keep from dripping on the floor, and finally Kageyama managed a chuckle when he saw Hinata's drenched hair hanging down his face.  
“You know the drill,” he said with a smile. “Leave your stuff outside the door.”  
“Thank you.”  
He headed for his room to change, deciding to screw it and just put his pyjamas straight on, then bundling a hoodie over the top. His parents had already pulled out the futon for them, so he didn't even need to do any work. Other than laundry. Hinata's pile of clothes was a dripping mess on the floor, and he transferred it to the laundry machine with his own gear, grumbling faintly as he returned to Hinata's bags to find his school uniform and throw it in too. When he was done he left a towel behind for Hinata to find, and returned to the living room, finding his parents at the table.  
“How was training? Everything working out how you want?”  
“Getting there,” he agreed. “Sorry, we were soaked, didn't think to come and say hello before I got changed.”  
“Don't worry about it,” his father shook his head. “Was that the friend who lives over the mountain?”  
“Yeah, he's just in the shower. He'll come introduce himself after. He never shuts up.”  
“He's a sweetie,” his mother objected. “Lovely, helpful boy.”  
“Must be a nice change,” Kageyama snorted. “Want me to bring him over more?”  
“As much as you like, you know your friends are always welcome.”  
“Yeah, thanks.”  
The shower stopped, and Kageyama heard light footsteps as Hinata emerged.  
“Tobio, I'm stealing your clothes!” he called toward the living room.  
“I already said you could, dumbass, you don't need to tell me.”  
“Thank you!”  
“Rain,” Kageyama explained needlessly. “Everything got soaked.”  
“He's welcome to leave some things here, if he wants.”  
“Mm, I told him. Hopefully this won't keep happening.”  
His parents exchanged a look that Kageyama couldn't quite read, but Hinata interrupted them before he could ask.  
“Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were home!” He dropped into a low bow in the doorway, his face burning red. “My name is Hinata Shouyou, Mr. Kageyama. It's nice to meet you!”  
“And you. Come, sit.”  
“Good to see you again, Mrs. Kageyama,” he grinned, sitting down opposite them both. “Sorry to be back so soon.”  
“Not at all. You're most welcome here.”  
“You ride the mountain pass every day?” Mr. Kageyama asked.  
“Yes, Sir.”  
“That must be dangerous in weather like this.”  
“People say so, but I haven't had any accidents yet. Our Captain got worried tonight, though. That's why Tobio said I should come stay. I hope that's okay, I'm sorry to intrude.”  
“No problem at all. Have you two eaten?”  
“No,” Kageyama answered, when Hinata flooded red, his stomach grumbling quietly. “We haven't.”  
“There's plenty of leftovers in the fridge, help yourselves.”  
“Thank you.”  
Hinata followed Kageyama out toward the kitchen, and when there was a wall between them and his parents, Kageyama raised an eyebrow at him.  
“Seriously?” he asked, gesturing toward Hinata briefly. “You're weird.”  
Hinata grinned, looking down at the 'Setter Soul' t-shirt he'd dug out from Kageyama's wardrobe.  
“I thought it might help me get into character,” he laughed, as Kageyama pulled plates from the fridge. “There seems to be a theme to your closet, I didn't have a lot of choice.”  
“Yeah, well. Aren't you cold?”  
Hinata shrugged, not an answer at all, and Kageyama rolled his eyes.  
“My hoodies are in the bottom drawer. Go get one.”  
“I already feel a little weird about borrowing your clothes.”  
“It's fine. You'll freeze. Go.”  
He returned to the bedroom obediently, and when he returned Kageyama couldn't help but laugh at him.  
“There are probably smaller ones in there, you know.”  
“It's fine,” Hinata smiled slightly, then pulled the collar up over his nose. “It's soft.”  
He was starting to understand, now, why his pillow had smelled familiar the first night. The same smell permeated his t-shirt, the one worn so often by his friend, and the hoodie as well. It wasn't some arbitrary smell that was just kind of okay, it was the smell of Kageyama. He'd grown used to it, being in such close contact all the time, but smelling it on something else had thrown him briefly.  
He didn't want to admit that he kind of liked it.

When Hinata woke in the night, he was freezing. He pulled the blankets up around him more, huddled inside the hoodie, but nothing seemed to work. Apparently his squirming woke Kageyama up, because the young man stirred a little and rolled over to look, and Hinata froze.  
“You okay, Shouyou?” he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes. “Can't sleep?”  
“I'm fine.”  
“You sure?”  
Realisation hit him at the perfect moment, and his eyes widened.  
“I forgot to put my uniform in to wash.”  
“I did it, dumbass.” Kageyama yawned. “Is that all?”  
“Oh. Did you? Thank you.”  
“Oh. Crap, I didn't get your gym gear though. Can you wear my spares?”  
“Y-yeah, if... If that's okay.”  
“It's fine with me. Is that all?”  
“Y-Yeah, thank you.”  
“Go back to sleep.”  
He huddled down in the blankets again, trying to find some warmth, and Kageyama pulled a face in the darkness.  
“Are you cold?” he asked, pulling his own blankets up. “It's bad tonight.”  
“A little,” he admitted, trying to cover up his shivering. “It's okay.”  
“Come here.”  
Hinata froze when Kageyama rolled over a little in the bed, convinced he was going to laugh or jeer at any moment, but he just waited with sleepy eyes.  
“Are you coming?”  
He finally gave in, dragging his blanket with him to throw over the bed, and Kageyama swore when Hinata's toes brushed against him.  
“You're freaking freezing,” he complained, pulling the blankets up over Hinata's head. “Idiot, you should have said something.”  
Kageyama rolled over so their backs were touching, trying to share his body heat a little now that they had plenty of blankets to share, and felt his cheeks burning.  
_How did this happen? Why are we in the same bed? Why did I invite him in?_  
Hinata was holding dead still, completely the opposite of any other time Kageyama had seen him in bed, and another yawn escaped him as he contemplated it.  
_Why did he accept?_  
“I don't care if you move,” he mumbled, as he settled in to go back to sleep. “It won't wake me up.”  
“O-Okay. Thank you.”  
“Night, Shouyou.”  
“Goodnight Tobio.”  
Hinata closed his eyes with a faint little smile playing on his lips, despite the nerves flooding his body and the flush in his cheeks, and it barely took him a minute to be sound asleep.  
When he woke up again, Kageyama's arm was draped across him, holding his back to a warm, solid chest. For a minute he froze, and for a few more he stayed, before he finally slipped out of the arm and the blankets to use the bathroom. He retrieved the laundry from the dryer, still a little warm to the touch, and folded Kageyama's neatly, stacking it in a little pile. His own stuff got thrown haphazardly in his bag, but Kageyama's went on his desk for him to pack away, hopefully without any wrinkles. He smiled warmly at the sleeping body, the mouth hanging open a little, the hair so messy against his pillow, then quietly padded his way downstairs to start cooking breakfast.

By Friday, Hinata was actually getting pretty good. Not good enough to play in a real match, by any means, but for one person with pre-meditated positions? Not bad. He'd gotten a pretty consistent height down too, which meant Kageyama had been able to get some good spikes in at the tail end.  
“Not bad for a week of practice,” Kageyama informed him, pulling at the mess of orange hair. “You'll do.”  
“Really?”  
“Uh-huh.”  
He was practically bursting with excitement, and it took Kageyama a moment to understand.  
“Is that the biggest compliment I've ever given you?”  
“Pretty much!”  
“Dumbass.”  
He grinned in return and Kageyama shook his head faintly.  
“Did you lose your shirt?”  
“What? Oh. Sorry, I guess you noticed.”  
“It doesn't exactly fit you.” Kageyama leaned his head against one hand, eyeing the tiny frame dwarfed by his gym shirt. “Did you leave it at my place?”  
“No, I... I don't know, I guess I just picked up the wrong one. I was tired.”  
Kageyama hummed his doubt, but didn't bother to argue, looking up as the doors opened on their first teammates to arrive.  
“Here already, as usual,” Tanaka chuckled. “Starting to think you never leave the place. Are you living in the gym?”  
“I wish,” Hinata laughed brightly. “The mats would make decent beds, but we wouldn't have food.”  
“Good point, there goes that idea.”  
Kageyama watched as Hinata bounded over to chat with the group of them, eyeing the small hands, red from all his serves and tosses, tucked behind his back until the colour would cool down. It was nothing unusual, Kageyama thought everyone would assume it came from spiking, but Hinata was convinced they would notice.  
“It's a different place!” he had insisted, when the topic came up. “They'll realise and the surprise will be ruined! You're meant to be the King, Tobio, you should know the difference!”  
It didn't look any different to him.  
Slowly the team started to trickle in, and Kageyama joined them for practice, rolling his eyes when Hinata hit a couple of fumbled serves on his turn. It was weird that he was still so bad at them, considering his jump serves were starting to look pretty decent, but apparently Hinata liked to do everything backwards.  
When they all gathered to finish training, Daichi made the announcement Kageyama and Hinata had been hoping for, and he found himself smiling almost as much as Hinata.  
“Tomorrow we're going to play a bunch of two on two. But we'll do it like a mini tournament, keeping score, maybe even with penalties. I think some of the local team are going to join us too, so that should make for a bit of a challenge. Figure out your teams before you go home today, maybe it'll save us a little time in the morning.”  
“Yes, Sir!”  
Kageyama and Hinata exchanged a look that shared so much information without even a word, delight and anticipation and a hint of arrogance too, and Kageyama found himself weirdly excited about showing off Hinata's new skills.  
No, he just wanted to spike some balls. Wanted to stop thinking for once and just whack them past some tall, conceited, blonde blockers. That was all it was.  
It definitely wasn't second-hand pride.

Kageyama shook his head immediately when the discussion came up, a few sets of eyes turning his way, and cut off the words before they even fully began.  
“I'm with Shouyou, obviously. We already arranged it.”  
The silence confused him for a moment, but when he saw Hinata stifling a laugh he caught on, his face burning red. He stumbled over his words, trying and failing to come up with an excuse, and Hinata grinned as he leaned in and wound an arm around Kageyama's shoulders.  
“Ah, Kageyama-kun, I didn't know we were so close.”  
“Shut the hell up, you're the one who demanded it, at least defend me a little.”  
“I don't know what you're talking about.”  
“You're a prick, you know. I quit, I'm going back to dumbass.”  
A few conspiring looks were spreading through the team, and Noya grinned as he sat down on Kageyama's other side, leaning an elbow on his shoulder.  
“You two are getting real cute. First the sleepovers, now you're calling him by first name? I didn't know you were such a softie.”  
“Stop making it sound so one sided,” Kageyama scowled, “he calls me Tobio all the time.”  
“Not in front of people,” Hinata grinned, “I'm better at watching what I say.”  
“Like hell you are.”  
“Alright, that's enough,” Daichi sighed, dragging Hinata and Noya off by their shirts and shoving them away. “Leave the poor guy alone.”  
“Thank you,” Kageyama muttered, his face still burning. “Sorry, I'm an idiot.”  
“It's fine, you two are obviously... close. None of us are really surprised.”  
“Don't make it sound so weird.”  
With the crowd distracted by a new topic, Daichi sighed, contemplating Kageyama for a long moment.  
“You know we noticed the shirt, right? He's been wearing your clothes for a couple of days.”  
“We got drenched on the way home the other day and he lost his one, he's been borrowing my spares.”  
“And you'd lend your clothes to anyone who asked?”  
Kageyama paused, and Daichi smiled wryly.  
“If Tsukishima said he'd lost his shirt, you'd hand him yours?”  
“God no, I'd tell him to stop losing his crap. But Hinata and I are... Friends, I guess. Genuine teammates, if nothing else.”  
“Okay. Just don't go getting yourself hurt, alright?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“If something happened between you two and you fought, it would make training and competing a lot more difficult. Just keep that in mind.”  
“We fight all the time.”  
“Yeah, I know.”  
With a little pat on the back Daichi left him in peace, to contemplate the cryptic words. It wasn't until he was almost home, until after he'd parted ways with Hinata and was almost at his door, that it hit him.  
_Oh._  
He dug his phone out and scowled to himself as he hunted down the right contact, stabbing at his screen as he typed.  
“We're not dating.”  
“Okay.”  
“I mean it, we're not.”  
“I didn't argue with you.”  
“Alright, but seriously.”  
“Okay.”  
He shoved it back in his pocket, grumbling to himself as he unlocked the front door and made his way up the stairs, immediately pulling it out again when it buzzed.  
_Here we go, he doesn't believe me, here comes his teasing crap..._  
“Hinata Shouyou” lit up the screen, and Kageyama's breath caught. He'd been fully prepared to get mad, and it wasn't even the right person.  
“Yeah?” he answered, falling onto his bed. “What?”  
“What are we wearing tomorrow?”  
“What?”  
“For training. The others are co-ordinating colours and stuff.”  
“Why do we need to? We'll just be the ones on that side of the net.”  
“You're no fun.”  
“Fine,” Kageyama sighed, falling back on the blankets. “What do you want to wear?”  
“What do you have?”  
“You've seen my wardrobe.”  
“Yeah. Hmm. I'll think about it and meet you at your place in the morning.”  
“Okay.”  
“Early.”  
“Ugh. Fine.”  
“Alright. Heading home now, goodnight.”  
“Yeah. Ride safe, Shouyou.”  
He paused for a moment, and Kageyama could hear the smile in his voice when he replied.  
“Thanks. Sweet dreams, Tobio.”  
“See you in the morning.”  
“Can't wait.”

Kageyama was barely awake when Hinata started rummaging through his wardrobe, a big bag of his own clothes dumped in the doorway, and he just watched tiredly as the ball of energy ransacked his room.  
“You want to leave a change of clothes here, while you've got them?” Kageyama mumbled, glancing at the bag. “For next time the weather gets bad?”  
“Oh. Ah... No, that's okay, the weather should be starting to get better now.”  
“Suit yourself.”  
He lay back to close his eyes again while Hinata contemplated, only cracking them open when he heard a little giggle come out of Hinata.  
“What do you think?” he asked, as Kageyama rolled over to look.  
Instead of finding something for Kageyama to wear, Hinata had uncovered something of his own. The blue and white shirt was a painful memory to him, but Hinata seemed rapt to have uncovered it, immediately throwing it on instead of his own t-shirt.  
“How do I look?”  
Truth be told, Kageyama had wondered more than once what it would have been like if they'd been at the same Junior High. Hinata would have kept up with him, or at least tried. Maybe he wouldn't have been quite so lonely.  
“Looks good,” Kageyama yawned. “Better you than me.”  
Hinata had thought about it as well. A lot, to be totally honest. Three extra years working on their quicks and the minus tempo. Imagine where he could be right now, if he'd had those three years to work. And imagine how much less messed up Kageyama would have been.  
“I should have brought mine,” Hinata smiled wryly. “Can you imagine if we'd showed up in each other's old jerseys?”  
“Like hell.”  
“It would be funny, you've got to admit.”  
“I'm not into crop tops.”  
It took a moment for Hinata to register the insult, storming over to punch Kageyama roughly, and a little whine came out as Kageyama rubbed at his arm. The noise made Hinata blush, his annoyance forgotten, as he pulled the shirt back over his head.  
“Dumb Tired-yama,” he mumbled as he hung it back in the wardrobe. “Tired-bio.”  
“Annoying-nata,” he countered pathetically. “Shou-loud.”  
“It's no wonder Daichi made those comments.”  
Kageyama froze, looking up at Hinata's amused expression, the blood draining from his face.  
“You heard that?”  
“It was my bad. I should have known they would make dumb assumptions.”  
“Is it dumb?”  
He regretted his words immediately when Hinata frowned down at him.  
“Is it not?”  
“I mean... We spend a lot of time together, and I don't really hang out with anyone else. Can you really blame them for assuming, when I called you by first name?”  
“I guess it doesn't sound dumb in that sense. Plus you ignored all the girls hitting on you, probably implies something in their minds.”  
_Yeah. Yeah, it does._  
“Which do you think is gonna score the most today?” Kageyama diverted quickly, “your serves or my spikes?”  
“My serves, by far! They won't see it coming!”  
“Keep dreaming.”  
“You're one to talk, Sleepy-o.”  
“If you can get ten points from your jump serves, I'll... I'll tell you a secret.”  
“A secret?”  
“Yeah. Something you don't know.”  
“Okay! Start figuring out what I don't know.”  
“But if my spikes get more than your serves, then... Hm...”  
“Anything you want,” Hinata smirked. “That's how the deal goes, right?”  
“Sure,” Kageyama chuckled. “Anything I want.”

It was almost time.  
They'd destroyed their first few rounds, scraped through the next few, but now things were coming to a halt. Hinata had baffled them with his jumpserve in the early rounds, but by the time they came up against Tsukishima and Yamaguchi they'd been prepared for it. Kageyama had dropped back a little to deal with Yamaguchi's serves, which meant Hinata had been stuck blocking Tsukishima, and that too hadn't gone well. They needed three more points, while Tsukishima's team needed two. There was only one team left they hadn't played, too, but Kageyama wasn't entirely convinced they were going to make it there without a few tricks.  
When he set up for his serve, he found Hinata looking at him pointedly, and smiled wryly when he realised they'd been on the same page the whole time. He spun the ball in his hand, then when he was sure Hinata was watching, he tapped his left hand against it twice. Hinata stopped looking then, turned his stubborn face back to the net, and Kageyama managed a genuine smile as he wound up and smacked the ball over to the other side. He ran up and blocked Tsukishima's spike with no problems, tossing the ball toward Hinata like usual. He saw the moment Tsukishima moved, saw him preparing to jump, and smirked when Hinata passed a neat set back his way. The room was dead silent other than the crack of the ball slamming to the ground in front of Yamaguchi, and even as they all stared, Kageyama grabbed a handful of Hinata's hair and laughed as he pulled at it.  
“Where did that come from, huh?” he asked lightly, “that was new.”  
“I've been watching you too much, I guess,” Hinata smirked back. “Want to try it again?”  
“Like hell.”  
Kageyama could tell they'd successfully shaken the other pair, along with everyone else in the gym, and when he set up for his next serve he gave Hinata a pointed look, tapping his right hand against the ball with one sharp pat.  
_Back to normal,_ it said, _play it off like a fluke._  
Sure enough, Tsukishima hesitated for the briefest of moments in his block, and Hinata slammed the ball past him with no issues. The look of annoyance on his face was glorious, and Kageyama knew he'd never forget that moment, although he felt a little bad for Yamaguchi.  
“One more,” Hinata declared, as Kageyama caught the ball thrown in from the sideline. “You've got this.”  
He contemplated for a moment, then held it out toward the stunned redhead, smirking.  
“You have a problem if we switch servers?” he asked loudly, watching Yamaguchi's eyes widen. “I need a break from all this dead weight I've been carrying.”  
Hinata snatched it with a stubborn look, getting only a smirk in return, and thumped it with his fist a couple of times as he got set up.  
_Make them suffer,_ the sign told him. It had been a joke at first, a sign they weren't actually going to use, but apparently he was rubbing off on Hinata. _Make it painful._  
He knew exactly what he needed to do. He watched as Hinata threw his neat jump serve over the net, received quickly by Yamaguchi, and Hinata quickly deflected the ball into the air from Tsukishima's shot. It was like everything Kageyama saw was in slow motion, and suddenly he didn't feel like Hinata was such an idiot anymore. He watched Tsukishima's eyes flick between them, saw everyone staring at the ball in the air, saw the indecision. He raised his hands for a set and saw Tsukishima fall for it, hook line and sinker. He saw Yamaguchi rushing forward, ready to back up the block, and somehow he even saw Hinata's little smirk.  
Hinata didn't even jump this time, didn't bother to fake them out. He just stood and watched as Kageyama patted it over the net and watched it fall to the ground.  
Tsukishima was fuming, and Kageyama couldn't remember the last moment that had felt so sweet.  
_Maybe when Shouyou had crawled into bed with him._  
He shook it off and accepted Hinata's hug, didn't shove him away, and couldn't seem to find words through his laughter. One half-decent toss, that was all it had taken to throw them, to ruin them. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it would do to an opponent from another team who knew them. Who knew Hinata. 

They lost three points right off the bat to Suga and Asahi. It was infuriating, and the third years knew it, but they had enough self-control to contain themselves. Kageyama knew he should have expected them to be a formidable team, but he'd been too busy silently gloating at Tsukishima from across the room to really think about it. Hinata was frowning stubbornly, and Kageyama caught a quick little glance from him, watched as he punched his left hand into his right. He returned the gesture non-chalantly to show he'd noticed, and not a word left their lips.  
Suga was signalling behind his back, they both knew it, but they'd given up trying to decipher it from their side.  
_Screw it,_ Kageyama thought to himself, _we don't need to know._  
It wasn't hard to predict where the ball was going to go first. Even Hinata had worked that out, had done his tiny little hop and darted that direction, had proudly received it. It was what would happen next that Suga had signalled for, and they weren't going to give them a chance to act on it. The rest of the room was a blur, only the ball and Hinata in focus, and he passed it over with the stopping-throw that he knew Suga would recognise and react to. It was too late, though. They'd practiced for this.  
Kageyama had to admit that it wasn't quite as fast this way around, but Hinata knew where to throw the ball, and Kageyama knew where to be. As long as they both trusted each other, it was still pretty damn fast. Kageyama's hand stung as he hit the ball, sending it sailing into empty space on the other side of the net, and watched smugly as Asahi's jaw dropped. This time they all knew it wasn't an accident, and he grinned as he shared a high five with Hinata, knowing their plans had finally borne fruit.  
“What the hell was that?” Noya yelled from the sideline, the only one willing to speak in the middle of the tense match. “Where did that come from?”  
Kageyama picked up the ball and spun it in his hand, thumping it with his fist before he threw it at Hinata.  
“Same again?” he asked with a smirk.  
“Sounds good to me.”  
With no formal time outs, there was nothing to mess up their streak. Five, six, seven points in a row. One from a serve alone, when Hinata finally remembered to aim it elsewhere, and for a minute Kageyama was overwhelmingly proud. Finally, though, the third years managed to take control back and prepare for a serve. Slowly things became more even, the score staying steady with the first years a few points ahead. Even more glorious was the moment where Suga tried to dump and Hinata saw straight through it, slamming the ball into the air for Kageyama to take control, grinning when it came straight back to him for a satisfying spike. Points were all well and good, but he had to admit he missed spiking it every time. Besides, the more they used their mix-up, the more opportunities Hinata had to screw it up.  
It was Kageyama's turn to serve, match point, and Hinata was itching to hit it. His last chance for the day, his last spike, his last hit. Kageyama understood the anxiety, saw the energy flooding him, and took pity. He signalled accordingly, and Hinata readied himself. He would set it to Kageyama to mess with them, then it would come straight back for one of his super-fast-mega-slams into the empty front line.  
When the ball came toward him, though, he found himself pausing. His hands were in the air already, prepared to set the best he possibly could for his last one, but already the game was slowing down before his eyes.  
_Oh._  
He saw the brief flash of confusion in Kageyama's face, saw the eyes darting back to him from the other side of the net, saw them moving to prepare for his spike. They knew the plan, they'd worked it out, only...  
_Huh._  
With a little shift of his weight, Hinata opened one hand, and watched Suga's horrified face as he gently patted the ball down to the other side, watching it bounce and roll away. For perhaps the first time in his life, it was Kageyama who hugged him first, laughing like a maniac. He hugged him back tightly, savoured the feel of his rapid heartbeat and short breaths as he leaned into the strong chest, and all too soon they were parting, grinning at each other like they'd just won a world championship.  
To be honest, he wasn't sure which would feel better.  
Finally the game was over, and people were bombarding them with questions, bruises already forming where Noya and Tanaka were punching him as they demanded answers.  
“Setter is boring,” he said finally. “I'm done with that. I might give Libero a try next.”  
“Don't you dare,” Noya insisted. “Not until I'm gone.”  
“Like I could ever replace you.”  
“But you think you could replace Kageyama?”  
“Not if he didn't want me to. He might want to trade.”  
“Not gonna lie, that felt pretty good,” Kageyama smirked. “Reckon I could be the next ace, when Asahi-san leaves?”  
Hinata pulled a face but Kageyama only continued to smirk, and finally he sighed.  
“Yeah,” he conceded. “You probably could, if you wanted.”  
“That's what I wanted to hear. Now can I have my job back?”  
“By all means, take it. My brain hurts.”  
“At least now we know you have one.”  
“Very funny. Oh!” He turned back to Noya and Tanaka again, his eyes lighting up. “Did you keep count?”  
“What? Oh, yeah.” Noya retrieved the pad from their bench, and Hinata took it with a hungry look in his eyes. “Why do you care so much?”  
“I win, Tobio!” Hinata declared triumphantly. “Twelve points from serves!”  
“There's no way you got more points than me!” Kageyama insisted, snatching the piece of paper. “Look, it's right here! I got seventeen from my spikes!”  
“You said ten points from serves!”  
“Yeah, and I also said if my spikes get more than your serves!”  
“That's why they care,” Noya sighed, “I shouldn't be surprised.”  
They were rewarded for their victory with the day off cleaning duty, and they grinned back at the confused and slightly frustrated group as they headed out, Hinata whistling as they started the walk back toward Kageyama's house.  
“I'm proud of you,” Kageyama said with a surprising amount of sincerity. “Not a single slip up. Well, none big enough to matter.”  
“I'm proud of you, too. Those spikes were pretty amazing.”  
“I guess it was kind of a tie, in the end.”  
“You owe me a secret.”  
“If I owe you a secret, you owe me anything I want.”  
“Fine! You've got me fixated on this secret now, I don't care.”  
“Fine.” Kageyama stopped, turning to look at Hinata they reached the end of his street. “You remember what we talked about before? About people... Assuming stuff?”  
“Yeah?”  
“They weren't entirely wrong.”  
“What?”  
“I am.”  
“You are what?”  
Kageyama looked away, suddenly struggling to find the words he'd been practicing.  
“I don't like girls,” he said finally, pulling a face. “I'm...”  
“Oh. Gay?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Oh. Okay.”  
“That's all? Just okay?”  
“Yeah,” Hinata shrugged, his eyes big and full of innocence. “Doesn't change anything, right?”  
“Right.”  
“So what do you want from me? I owe you something now. Anything you want. Oh no, you're gonna ask me to be quiet at training, aren't you?”  
“No.”  
“You're going to ask me to quit the team? Oh no I didn't think this through.”  
“Nothing like that, stop speculating.”  
“Tell me then so I can stop being terrified!”  
_Stay in my bed again._  
Kageyama shook his head, pulling a face at himself.  
_Kiss me._  
“Can I think about it?”  
“You're meant to know before it happens, dumb-io”  
_Let me take a photo of you in my Kitagawa Daiichi shirt_  
That one surprised even Kageyama, making him pull a face at himself again.  
_Why is that on the list?  
My Kitagawa Daiichi shirt and nothing else.  
Oh._  
“Come hang out at my place for a while, before you go home.”  
“Sure. Is that when you're gonna figure out what you want?”  
“No, I mean...”  
Hinata frowned, then shook his head.  
“That doesn't count. I'd feel like I hadn't done anything.”  
_Hug me goodbye at the end of it_  
“Buy me lunch on the way.”  
“Seriously? You have no imagination.”  
_Be my lunch.  
Okay, that one was weird._  
“I like you,” he blurted out, flooding red immediately. “I want to spend time with you.”  
“Okay.” Hinata screwed up his face, thinking about it. “Then... For your anything, you should say... 'Eat lunch with me every day' right? or... or 'bike to my house in the mornings so we can walk to and from school together.' Yeah?”  
“Are you even listening to me?”  
“Yeah,” Hinata grinned, “I'm just trying to help.”  
“Are you not going to say anything? No 'ew, gross, leave me alone' or 'I'm flattered but I'm not interested' or... or _something_?”  
“Why would I say anything like that?”  
“Because I just... I just...”  
“I like you too. Is that what you want to hear?”  
“Don't toy with me, it isn't funny. You're not like this.”  
“I'm not toying with you. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I hadn't really thought about it before, but yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. We spend a lot of time together, you're usually nicer to me than other people, or at least you talk to me more and interact with me more, which I think is kind of like your version of nice.”  
“Are you telling me I wasn't subtle?”  
“Kind of. I mean, I didn't notice, but in hindsight I really should have. You did invite me into your bed, after all.”  
“Sorry,” Kageyama flooded red, “I was half asleep, I thought maybe I'd dreamed it when I woke up and you were gone.”  
“No, I just always wake up early and need to pee,” Hinata grinned. “Gives me time to sort the laundry out and help cook breakfast before you wake up, anyway.”  
“That was you?”  
“What?”  
“The laundry.”  
“Yeah, of course.”  
“I thought it was my mother.”  
“Oh,” Hinata laughed, shaking his head. “Sorry, I probably shouldn't have touched your stuff without you knowing.”  
“It's fine, I don't care.”  
“So you won't mind if I end up staying over at your place again?”  
“Not in the slightest.”  
Hinata had a thoughtful look on his face, and he glanced toward the convenience store briefly.  
“Are you dead set on me buying you lunch as your anything?”  
“What? Why?”  
“Because I know something else you could ask for.”  
“What's that?”  
He held up his little hand, grinning as he wiggled his fingers lightly, and Kageyama just stared.  
“You could ask me to hold your hand,” Hinata explained. “I'd do it. I said anything, after all.”  
_Then kiss me._  
“You must have a lot of ideas, huh? You just don't want to say them.”  
“Kind of.”  
“I know the kind of things Tanaka and Noya would be thinking of, and I'd rather you didn't pick anything like that, but I don't mind holding your hand.”  
“I don't want you to do anything like that just because of a dumb bet.”  
“We'll save your anything for later, then,” Hinata shrugged, slipping his hand into Kageyama's anyway. “This one is free.”  
Kageyama knew his face was burning bright red, but Hinata didn't say a word about it. He just continued to look around as he practically skipped down the road, this time with Kageyama much more literally in tow.  
“We did a good job today,” he grinned, a look of satisfaction crossing his face. “They didn't even know what to say. Did you notice how silent it was when we did it to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi?”  
“Yeah, it was pretty great.”  
“And his face, my God, I never thought I'd think Tsukishima was beautiful, but that _face_.”  
Kageyama cracked a smile, and Hinata squeezed his hand a little tighter.  
“I don't know if I like guys or girls,” he said out of the blue, just as casually. “I mean, I think I've looked at both. Maybe I just like people, rather than what's in their pants.”  
“You make it sound so vulgar.”  
“Really though,” Hinata turned to lock eyes, the same little smile still stuck on his lips. “I don't dislike you. Maybe I even... Okay, I've definitely thought about it. Which is more than I can say for most people. I wondered if maybe that was what it was, if maybe I liked you, but hearing you say it kind of cleared things up a little. I wasn't imagining what we have.”  
“What we have?”  
“It's more than a friendship, everyone can see that.”  
“Can they?”  
“Uh-huh.”  
Kageyama's parents were out, so when he unlocked the door Hinata didn't let go of his hand, continued leading him toward the bedroom.  
“Can I let go for a minute to change?” Hinata asked, gesturing with their hands. “I'm kind of gross and sweaty.”  
“You can let go whenever you want, you started this.”  
“Okay, just give me one minute.”  
It was hard to avert his eyes when Hinata pulled his pants down, but Hinata didn't seem to mind, just grinned in his usual way as he pulled on a clean pair of jeans from his bag.  
“Hey,” Kageyama interrupted, before he could stop himself. “You said that didn't count as my anything, right?”  
“Right. Did you think of something?”  
With his face burning bright red he picked up his old jersey from earlier and threw it at Hinata's face. For a moment he seemed surprised, but then a rather cute little laugh escaped him.  
“Really?”  
“Yeah.”  
“This does it for you, huh?” Hinata teased, as he pulled his sweaty singlet over his head and cast it aside in favour of the blue and white shirt. “Slightly better request, I admit, purely because I'd never have thought of it. More creative.”  
_Now kiss me_  
Once again Kageyama shook off the annoying little voice, inspecting Hinata one more time before he turned around to change as well. He tossed the far-too-big hoodie at Hinata again as he pulled out one of his own, amused by the little smile he got for it, but Hinata hesitated.  
“I'll wait until I get cold,” he said after a minute. “I'll hold out as long as I can.”  
“What for?”  
He gestured toward the t-shirt, and Kageyama rolled his eyes, taking the hoodie back and pulling it around Hinata's shoulders stubbornly.  
“Like that is fine,” Kageyama told him, his face still flushed, as Hinata looked down at the hoodie hanging open in the front. “Don't get cold.”  
“There are other ways to warm up.”  
Kageyama was shaking with the effort of trying to stay calm, and Hinata took his hand apologetically, leading him to sit on the edge of the bed.  
“Sorry, I'm teasing too much. I'll stop.”  
“It's fine.”  
“It's not. Are you okay?”  
“I'm kind of lost for words right now.”  
“Wow, what a change,” Hinata said drily. “The King isn't speaking, that's new.”  
“Real funny.”  
“Really though, talk to me. What are you thinking?”  
_Kiss me. Kiss me. Kissmekissmekissme._  
“I don't know.”  
“Do you want me to stop holding your hand?”  
“No.”  
“Wow, that took a lot of thought.”  
“Shut up.”  
Hinata smiled softly, leaning in to tuck himself up against Kageyama's side.  
“Really though, Tobio, I'm pretty sure I like you too. I only say pretty sure because I don't have much else to compare it to. But this makes me happy. You make me happy. Being with you makes me happy. That's enough, right?”  
“Everyone makes you happy.”  
“I don't generally have the urge to hold hands with people who are just friends.”  
“Urge?”  
“You really think it was purely for your benefit?” He smirked, “I'm not that selfless.”  
“Sorry.”  
“Don't be.”  
“Really though, Hinata, I just-”  
“Oi,” Hinata cut him off pointedly. “Try again.”  
“What? Oh. Shouyou.”  
“Better.”  
“I didn't mean to say it, it just sort of came out. I'm sorry for that.”  
“I'm glad you did.”  
“Really?”  
“Really.”  
Hinata shuffled in a little closer, ditching Kageyama's hand in favour of dragging the arm around his waist, and after a nervous pause Kageyama pulled him in, hugging him lightly.  
“This is nice.”  
Kageyama had other things on his mind, with the strangely magnetic boy so close to him, but Hinata didn't seem to notice. He closed his eyes, leaning his head against Kageyama's chest, forcing Kageyama to hold him a little more securely to keep him from slipping off.  
“I was happy. When you asked me to sleep next to you.” Hinata began, pausing again. “When I woke up you had your arm around me, and I was scared you'd freak out if I stayed. It was nice, though. I stayed until my bladder was ready to burst.”  
“Does that mean...”  
“That we could do it again? Yeah, that's kinda what I was thinking.”  
Nervously Kageyama followed his lead as he lay down, holding dead still as Hinata shuffled back into him, reaching again for his arm to pull it around his waist.  
“This is where I woke up,” Hinata explained, smiling to himself. “I missed this spot.”  
Kageyama held on a little tighter, and Hinata pressed into him more to match, ignoring the tightness in his pants that he could surely feel against his ass.  
“So what makes you like the untalented loudmouth, huh?”  
“You're not. Not really.”  
“That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me.”  
“You make me smile,” Kageyama admitted. “On the court and off. And I can talk to you. Is that enough?”  
“If you have more I'm happy to hear them.”  
“You're cute,” Kageyama pulled a face, “is that insulting?”  
“Not at all.”  
“The way you light up when you're happy, and the way you scrunch up your face when you're concentrating. That kind of thing.”  
Kageyama glanced down to see a damp patch on the pillowcase and froze, lost for words.  
“Sorry,” Hinata said with a weak laugh. “I didn't think you'd actually answer me.”  
“Oh.”  
“You really meant it. When you said you liked me, I mean.”  
“I did. I do.”  
“Wow. That makes me really happy. Thank you.”  
“You're welcome.”  
“Do you think we should go on a date?”  
Kageyama fell silent once more, and Hinata chuckled.  
“I mean, you'd like to, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“So would I. At least to see how it goes, before we decide to be a couple.”  
“Are you seriously considering that as an option?”  
“As long as you'll call me by my first name.”  
“Shouyou,” Kageyama mumbled into the back of his head. “Done, let me take you on a date.”  
“How romantic.”  
“I'm new to this.”  
“Tomorrow, then. Is that long enough to plan?”  
“I've been planning for weeks.”  
“Okay,” Hinata laughed, despite the tears still trailing down his cheeks. “Thank you, Tobio.”  
“Don't thank me. I'm happy.”  
“Really happy or Tobio-happy?”  
“Both.”  
“Good. Now shush, let me stay here and appreciate this moment.”  
“You? You're telling me to shush?”  
“Yes,” Hinata grinned, “I am.”  
“Fine. Roll over, then.”  
“Why?”  
“So I can look at you.”  
Obediently he turned over in Kageyama's grip, and with a little smile he leaned his head into the warm chest he'd thought so much about.  
“Will your parents care if they come home and see us?”  
“Like they haven't guessed,” Kageyama scoffed. “What happened to shush?”  
“Sorry.”  
“It's fine.”  
“Just give me... A couple of hours, before I have to go home.”  
“You can stay if you want.”  
“I shouldn't. Just a few hours would be nice.”  
“Okay.”

They passed the little cafe quite often after school, when they went out to eat with friends, but Kageyama had never actually been inside. He'd thought about it though, almost every time they passed. It was small and cosy, and looked kind of warm and inviting. He'd long since entertained the thought of eating there with Hinata. For the occasion, he'd dug out a nicer pair of jeans and even found a button up shirt, had done his best to look vaguely presentable, and when Hinata rounded the corner they both froze, staring at each other.  
“Wow,” Hinata grinned, racking his bike and latching on to Kageyama's arm. “Look at you.”  
“Not too awful?”  
“Not at all.”  
“You look really good.”  
“Thanks,” Hinata grinned, squeezing his arm a little tighter. “Shall we, then?”  
He didn't let go until they'd found a little table in the corner, where they could sit across from each other and share nervous smiles whenever their eyes met. Kageyama's stomach was full of butterflies, and he had trouble even looking at Hinata, let alone keeping up a conversation.  
When they'd put in their orders, Hinata surveyed him for a moment, and Kageyama prepared for the worst with apologies waiting on his tongue.  
“You seem happy.”  
“What?” he stumbled out, caught off guard. “Do I?”  
“Are you not?”  
“I am. I thought...”  
“You thought?” Hinata prompted, leaning his head against his hand.  
“I thought you were going to say I was too quiet, or something. I can't seem to think of anything to say. But I am. Happy, I mean.”  
“Good. Me too. Are you nervous?”  
“More than I can begin to explain.”  
“You're cute,” Hinata laughed brightly. “We've spent so much time together like this, it should be no different now.”  
“It is, though. I don't want to screw it up.”  
“You couldn't possibly,” Hinata assured him. “I like spending time with you, or I wouldn't have said yes. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be, there's no need to be nervous.”  
“When did you get smart?”  
“Can I have that in writing?” Hinata smirked, “maybe I just have a weird view on relationships.”  
“Weird how?”  
“I appreciate a pretty girl or a handsome guy as much as anyone, but I don't know why that's the basis of so many people falling for each other. It should be about having fun, first and foremost. Right? Is that just me?”  
“No, I agree,” Kageyama assured him. “Someone you can spend a lot of time with and not get bored. Someone you can talk to.”  
“Yeah, that's kind of what I thought you'd say. Sorry if I don't act very couply.”  
“It should be like friends but with more hand holding.”  
“Exactly! And cuddling.”  
Kageyama cracked a smile despite his embarrassment, and Hinata laughed at him again, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows and making Kageyama's heart beat a little faster.  
“You're really attractive, though,” he found himself saying. “Even if it's not the most important thing.”  
“Thank you,” Hinata grinned, “you're really handsome yourself.”  
When their meal arrived the conversation slowed a little again, both of them focused on filling their stomachs with incredible food rather than on what to say, and slowly Kageyama's butterflies grew still.  
“Ahh, that was so good,” Hinata let out a little sigh, leaning back in his chair. “You picked a good place, we need to come here again.”  
“Yeah, we should.”  
The way his smile lit up his whole face was infectious. The little creases at the corners of his shining eyes, and how his head tilted a little to match his lopsided grin. Kageyama couldn't help but return it, although he knew it wasn't nearly as bright, but he hoped Hinata would get the point.  
“Do you want to go for a walk?” Kageyama suggested. “It's supposed to stay warm this afternoon.”  
“That sounds good.”  
“Okay, just let me go pay.”  
“What? No, you're not paying.”  
“I am.”  
“Let's go halves.”  
“No.”  
“Don't be like this, I'm not a girl, you don't need to do this whole thing.”  
“I invited you, so I pay.”  
Hinata pulled a stubborn face, and Kageyama smiled as he patted him on the head fondly.  
“Next time you can choose the place, then maybe I'll let you pay.”  
“No maybes. Next time I'm paying.”  
“Uh-huh, sure.”  
Hinata waited at the door, watching how polite and grateful Kageyama was to the employees, a little amused to see it. He had quickly gotten used to the Kageyama who would yell and make demands, he'd all but forgotten about this side of him.  
“It wasn't too expensive, was it?” he asked, when Kageyama returned.  
“Not at all.”  
“Phew. Alright, let's go for a walk while the sun is out.”  
He linked his fingers through Kageyama's without hesitation, and this time Kageyama squeezed him back. Hinata swung them back and forth as he walked, practically bouncing in his steps, grinning and waving to everyone they passed as they reached the local park. He was like a little ball of sunshine, with his radiant smile and bright orange hair, emanating light everywhere they went.  
Kageyama was darker, he knew. Not just in appearance but in tone, in voice, in attitude. He couldn't possibly measure up to the mass of buzzing energy at his side, but he could sure as hell try his best.  
“Do you think they're still talking about it?” Hinata asked, glancing up at Kageyama briefly. “The game, I mean.”  
“Probably,” Kageyama smirked, “Tsukishima will be.”  
“I hope he never stops.”  
They shared a grin, and Kageyama found himself a little more at ease as they continued to walk. There were some people throwing a ball around nearby, and Kageyama half expected Hinata to run off and join in, but he seemed perfectly content to remain at his side, their fingers still interlocked, their arms occasionally bumping together when they moved in closer.  
“Thanks for today, Tobio,” Hinata smiled warmly, when the sun started to set and they headed back to his bike. “I had a lot of fun.”  
“Me too.”  
“I'll see you at school tomorrow. Be ready for all the questions they throw at us.”  
“I'll just tell them to ask you.”  
“That works too,” he laughed. “Have a good night.”  
“Let me know when you get home safely.”  
“Really? Since when do you get all concerned?”  
“You mean since when do I vocalise it?”  
“I'll call you,” Hinata assured him with a grin. “In a bit.”  
“Looking forward to it.”  
They shared a quick little hug before Hinata climbed onto his bike, and Kageyama's heart skipped another beat when he pushed up a sleeve that had fallen down. He found himself staring at the boy's back as he rode off, waiting until he was well out of sight before he turned to head home. 

Practice had been strangely normal. He wasn't willing to admit his feelings in front of the team yet, so he stayed quiet, but Hinata was his normal boisterous self, grinning and laughing over the praise and disbelief everyone still shared from the weekend training.  
“It wasn't me, really,” Kageyama heard him laugh. “It was Tobio's idea, and he taught me, obviously. It was meant to be, like, the ultimate switch up. Did it throw you off?”  
“Absolutely!” Suga agreed, a little stunned still. “Kageyama went out of his way to teach you to be a setter?”  
“Uh-huh! Only for him, though. I don't know how you guys do it for more than one person at a time, just thinking about it makes my brain hurt.”  
Kageyama did his best to pretend he hadn't heard, that he wasn't listening, but hearing Hinata call him by his first name still made him flush a little. He hadn't quite managed to get used to it yet.  
“Hey, Tobio, wait up,” he called, when people started to clear out for classes. “Everything okay?”  
“Yeah, of course.”  
“You went all quiet again.”  
“I'm always quiet.”  
“The different kind though, like 'grrr' instead of 'hmmm' or something.”  
Kageyama cracked a smile at the dumb attempt at an explanation, and Hinata grinned in response.  
“No grrr,” Kageyama assured him, petting him on the head and ruffling his hair lightly. “Everything is fine.”  
“Are you happy?”  
“I am now.”  
The words came out before he could think about them, and he burned red when Hinata laughed.  
“I shouldn't have said it like that.”  
“No, it's fine, I'm glad I make you happy. Do you want to walk to class with me?”  
“Yeah, sure. Just let me get changed.”  
“Can I watch?”  
“If you really want.”  
Hinata laughed but made no move to follow, leaning against a wall to talk to a few other stragglers as Kageyama disappeared to put his uniform on. He was pretty sure there was some suspicion floating around the team, not the least of which from Daichi, but he would do his best to throw them off for as long as possible. Until Kageyama was ready to talk to them.  
“All sorted,” Kageyama told him as he returned, pulling his schoolbag over his shoulder. “Let's go.”  
“Coming!”  
He practically skipped across the gym, and Kageyama didn't complain. He'd gotten used to the weird way Hinata moved, had given up trying to change it. It was a part of him, anyway, and it was starting to grow on Kageyama a little.  
“Have you ever noticed that when you don't like someone, everything they do annoys you?”  
“Like Tsukishima?” Hinata laughed, “you get annoyed when he breathes too loud.”  
“Exactly like Tsukishima.”  
“Yeah, I've noticed. How come?”  
“I think it works the other way too.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Things you do used to annoy me,” Kageyama answered surprisingly bluntly, but without looking down at the curious face. “I don't mind them so much now.”  
“Like what?”  
“The noise level, for one. The energy. The bouncing.”  
“You're not annoyed at me for being loud anymore?”  
“No, it's kind of...”  
He trailed off, and Hinata eyed him curiously.  
“Cute?” he suggested with a smirk.  
“Not quite. Endearing maybe.”  
“I'll take it.”  
“The hair, even,” Kageyama added with a smile, grabbing a handful and tugging lightly. “Used to annoy me seeing it such a mess. This is kind of fun though.”  
“I never knew you were such a silver-lining kind of guy.”  
“I'm not, you know that.”  
Kageyama removed his hand when they reached Hinata's classroom, giving him one last little smile.  
“Have a good morning,” he offered, trying his best to put some emotion behind the words. “Don't fall asleep.”  
“I'll do my best,” Hinata grinned. “See you at lunch.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Yeah.”  
“I'll be looking forward to it.”  
“Bye, Tobio.”  
“Yeah, see you later Shouyou.”  
He still seemed so happy every time, saying or hearing the names, and that too was weirdly endearing. It wasn't something Kageyama had thought about a lot, not something he cared about that much. Oikawa had always called him Tobio, after all. A couple of people at camp, too, if he remembered correctly. That was how much attention he had paid, he wasn't even totally sure.  
It made Hinata happy, though. That was the important thing. He'd do his best to keep it exclusive just for him.

Hinata was waiting for him outside the gym, swinging his legs back and forth from his perch on the railing, and he resisted the urge to push him off as he got close enough. He smiled when he looked back, and Kageyama did his best to return the gesture.  
“Yesterday was good, right?”  
“Yeah,” Kageyama agreed sincerely. “I had a good time.”  
“So do you think we should date?”  
“What?”  
“Do you think we should be a couple?”  
“If you want to be.”  
“Do you want to be?”  
Kageyama gave him a sceptical look, and Hinata produced a gorgeous little smirk.  
“Was that a dumb question?”  
“A little. I already told you how I felt. How I feel.”  
“So it didn't change? After our date?”  
“It absolutely changed, just not the direction you're concerned about.”  
“What's that supposed to mean?” Hinata's forehead creased as he puzzled over it. “The wrong direction?”  
“It made me like you more, not less,” Kageyama explained, his face a little warm. “I figured I could handle rejection right off the bat, but if you do it now it might kill me.”  
“I wasn't planning on it,” Hinata laughed. “Well then we can be a couple on one condition.”  
“Yeah?”  
“I want to know what you were really thinking, when I said you could have anything. I could see it in your face that you were hiding it, and I can't stop wondering. Was it something really pervy?”  
“No, not particularly.”  
“Nothing gross?”  
“I don't think so.”  
“What, then?”  
“The same thing my brain yells at me every time I see you.”  
Hinata tilted his head a little, curious as Kageyama grew redder and stumbled over his words.  
“Kiss me,” he blurted out finally. “That's... That's what I wanted to say.”  
“Is that all?”  
“Yeah.”  
“You'll have to bend down, then. I'm not quite tall enough.”  
“W-What?”  
Hinata slid off the railing and looped an arm around Kageyama's neck, rising to his tiptoes and making Kageyama lean down. His eyes sank closed when their lips met, and for a moment he forgot about the world around them, didn't even notice the footsteps getting closer.  
A little squeak brought him back to the real world, and his eyes opened to see Noya rushing to the door of the gym, flailing wildly as he tried to call the others over, and Kageyama's face burned crimson. Hinata laughed, not a hint of apprehension in him when Noya turned to look, despite Kageyama's awful nerves.  
“When?!” He demanded, “how?!”  
People gathered to see what the fuss was about, leaving Kageyama flustered beyond belief, and he realised far too late that his hand was still sitting on Hinata's hip.  
“We weren't,” he insisted stubbornly, when Daichi smirked at them. “When you asked, we weren't... together.”  
“And that changed in less than a week, huh?”  
“Yeah,” Kageyama nodded, finding a little bit of composure finally. “Like, yesterday.”  
“Congratulations!” Suga grinned, throwing an arm around each of them. “I'm so proud of you both, finally figuring it out.”  
“What's that supposed to mean?”  
“Nothing!”  
Kageyama's lips still tingled where they had kissed Hinata's, and more than anything he wished their teammates would just disappear so they could do it again. And again. Until Hinata changed his mind. It would have to wait, though, with all the eyes on them. Just his luck.  
“How did it happen?” Yamaguchi asked, ignoring the glare it netted him from Tsukishima. “I don't quite get it.”  
“It was no big deal,” Hinata grinned, glancing back fondly at Kageyama. “Right, Tobio?”  
“No big deal,” he agreed. “Still new to us both.”  
“Yeah,” Hinata laughed to himself. “We just felt like switching things up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SaysiOnTwit) and support my writing endeavors or find my other social links etc [here](https://www.saysiwrites.info)


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